UFC 226 Odds, Preview & Expert Betting Picks

Every year on the July 4 weekend or thereabouts, the UFC stages arguably its best card of the year in Las Vegas. That’s absolutely the case this Saturday night with two title fights headlining UFC 226 at T-Mobile Arena in Sin City. The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view. Here’s a look at the latest UFC 226 Odds and some of our MMA Betting Picks for this exciting night.

UFC 226 Odds, Preview & Expert Betting Picks

He got started fighting almost by accident but now @UFC heavyweight champ @stipemiocic is heading into 4th title defense against @dc_mma this Saturday in Las Vegas at #UFC226: pic.twitter.com/vSzebHxIXW

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) 2 de julio de 2018

• Date: July 7, 2018
• City: Paradise, Nevada
• Venue: T-Mobile Arena
• TV: UFC Network
• Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass

Stipe Miocic (18-2) vs. Daniel Cormier (20-1)

• UFC 226 Odds: Miocic -225 / Cormier +205

Miocic puts his heavyweight belt on the line and is a -260 favorite with Cormier at +210 and the over/under for the scheduled five-rounder at 3.5 rounds. Cormier is the current light-heavyweight champion and looking forward to becoming a two-division world champion. After UFC president Dana White expressed to the media that a super-fight between “DC” and Stipe Miocic would be one that a lot of people would like to see, both fighters accepted the offer to face each other. Now 39 years old, Cormier knows his time in the sport is limited. He is sticking to his retirement date of 2019, as he doesn’t want to fight much beyond his 40th birthday. Cormier’s lone loss was in 2015 to Jon Jones; those two fought again last July but it was ruled a no-contest. Cormier last fought in January and beat Volkan Oezdemir by second-round TKO. Should Cormier end Miocic’s impressive reign at the summit of the heavyweight division, he’ll become only the second fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously, a feat achieved by Conor McGregor at UFC 205. Miocic has been dubbed “the baddest man in the planet” and many regard him as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time. Miocic has fought and defeated top UFC veterans like Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt. Stipe is coming off a five-round win against monster Francis Ngannou at UFC 220, which he won via unanimous decision. There’s already talk of Miocic defending his title against the likes of Brock Lesnar after the bout, and it’s been rumored that the WWE superstar will be in attendance at UFC 226 to watch the action unfold between Miocic and Cormier in the main event. Miocic said that he would have no problem accepting a fight with Lesnar and the top pound-for-pound talent warmed to the idea of a super-fight with Jon Jones, claiming that he’s willing to fight “anyone.” Jones, the former light heavyweight champ, had teased at a move up to heavyweight in the past but the 30-year-old is currently suspended for his use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) at UFC 214. Should Cormier get past Miocic, he has his sights set on the third fight with Jones and perhaps his own mega-money bout with Lesnar.

Max Holloway (19-3) vs. Brian Ortega (14-0)

• UFC 226 Odds: Holloway -145 / Ortega +125

Holloway is the featherweight champion and a -145 favorite over Ortega, with the over/under set at 3.5 rounds. Holloway is just 26 and he’s already faced three certain UFC Hall of Famers, won a world title and made two successful defenses, and has become one of the elite fighters in the sport. Yet he’s not really considered a big star for whatever reason. He hasn’t fought this year but it’s not his fault. Holloway was supposed to fight Ortega in March but had to pull out because of an injury. Then he agreed to step in April to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title, but the New York State Athletic Commission wouldn’t allow him to cut any more weight and he was off the card. Speaking on the UFC 226 media conference call, Holloway said that his intention is eventually to move up to the lightweight division — not just because he’s running out of fresh foes at featherweight, but because he’s getting too big for the division. Holloway seems to foresee a future meeting with Nurmagomedov down the road. Holloway hasn’t lost since 2013 vs. Conor McGregor. Ortega has that nice record but hasn’t fought quite the competition that Holloway has, although Ortega comes off a first-round knockout over all-timer Frankie Edgar in March. Edgar, the former lightweight champion, had never been finished previously. Ortega produced a destructive combination of punches capped by a thunderous uppercut that dropped Edgar to the canvas. His size advantage over Edgar was so stark because Ortega rehydrated more than 20 pounds, and he leaned on the advantage by withstanding some punches.

Derrick Lewis (19-5) vs. Francis Ngannou (11-2)

• UFC 226 Odds: Lewis +300 / Ngannou -380

At one point, Ngannou was the clear rising superstar in the heavyweight division, a guy who was like Mike Tyson in his young prime. Guys seemed scared of Ngannou when they entered the Octagon. However, the “Predator” lost a bit of luster with his unanimous decision loss to Miocic in January. That’s the first time a Ngannou fight went more than two rounds. If Ngannou wins here, he should be on track for another shot at the title soon. If he loses, maybe he was a flash in the pan. Miocic exposed Ngannou’s mediocre ground game and rendered his world-class punching power useless. Miocic used his wrestling to control Ngannou, but what the fight really showed was no fatal flaw in Ngannou but rather Miocic’s greatness and Ngannou’s inexperience. “A lot of things were messed up for the fight,” Ngannou said. “I’m trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again.” While Ngannou has never been finished in his career, Lewis has 17 knockouts in 19 pro wins. Lewis is coming off a knockout win over Marcin Tybura in February. Ngannou is -380 on the Mybookie.ag odds and Lewis +300.

Expert Predictions

Miocic by KO/TKO, Holloway by decision and Ngannou by KO/TKO.